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The Massacre of Basel, Switzerland’s Jewish Community
(from the Jerusalem Post’s website)
On January 9, 1349, nearly the entire Jewish population of Basel was massacred by townspeople as Jews were blamed for the Black Plague.
At the end of the 14th century in Europe, scores were dying from the Black Plague and nobody knew why. That is, until a scapegoat was found. On January 9, 1349 (11 Shvat – icot), nearly the entire Jewish population of Basel was massacred by the townspeople. Ignorant to the causes of the plague, the people and local leaders of modern Switzerland, France and Germany accused Jews of poisoning wells. Most were burnt alive.
Despite a papal bull by Pope Clement VI in the second half of 1348 clearing the Jews of responsibility for the plague, the blaming, burning and banishing of the Jews did not stop.
In the beginning of 1349 in Basel, the Jewish community was rounded up. The children were separated from their parents and forcefully baptized. The 600 remaining adults were brought to a specially-built wooden structure on an island in the Rhine river and locked inside. The building was set ablaze, burning the Jews alive. Following the mass murder, the city of Basel resolved that no Jews were to be allowed in the city for 200 years, although this was revoked some decades later.
Black Plague.